The End of the 20th Century: The Best is Yet to Come

Shortly before his death, Joseph Beuys created his sculpture “The End of the 20th Century”— four years before the fall of the Berlin wall. This existential interest in the future that survived all disappointments and aberrances of the 20th century forms the starting point for the new exhibition at the National Gallery, part of the State Museums of Berlin. Works from the Marx Collection and more recent positions are presented in ten chapters that take on the wording of Beuys’s eponymous sculpture “The End of the 20th Century” in an associative way, while simultaneously widening the scope of the title and calling it into question. The catalog is based on a principle of collage developed by the Berlin graphic design office cyan in collaboration with the editors specifically for the artworks shown in the book and the selected texts. The different texts and text formats—from philosophy to poetry, reflecting the 20th century as a mental space—enter into a dialogue with the images, creating an evocative publication that thrums with the potential of what lies ahead. Edited by Eugen Blume and Catherine Nichols Designed by cyan Published by Spector Books, 2014 Hardcover, 232 pages, full color, 9.5 × 12 inches ISBN: 978-3-944669-19-9